Prospective Student-Athletes

Utah State's Spencer Butterfield has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 4-10, announced Monday by the conference office.

Feb. 11, 2013

LOGAN, Utah -
Utah State's Spencer Butterfield has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 4-10, announced Monday by the conference office.

Butterfield, a junior forward from Loomis, Calif. (Del Oro HS/Yuba CC), posted his fifth-straight double-double with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead USU to its palindromic 63-36 road win at San Jose State on Friday. He also added one steal and one assist in the victory.

Butterfield's 22 points were one shy of his season-high 23 points, and came off a season-high nine made field goals on 9-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Butterfield averaged 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game heading into Friday's match-up with San Jose State. He topped that average and nearly had a double-double in the first half with 13 points and seven rebounds, almost single-handedly matching SJSU's 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. During USU's 25-2 run that broke the game open in the first half, Butterfield started the spurt with a three-pointer and later netted six of the last nine points in the streak for USU's 31-11 lead.

Butterfield now has 12 double-figure scoring outings and five double-digit rebound games, posting double-doubles in all five. Butterfield netted three three-pointers for the second-straight game and it was his 10th multi-three-pointer game. It was also his sixth game with three or more treys, including second game going 3-for-3 from distance.

With five double-doubles in a row, Butterfield is now tied for 10th in the USU record books for consecutive double-doubles, becoming one of three different Aggie players who have accomplished the streak of five in a row, doing so four different times, joining Bob Lauriski (1971-72) and Eric Franson with five each. Franson had two separate five-game streaks, one in 1993-94 and one in 1995-96. Butterfield is the only guard on USU's top 10 consecutive double-doubles list.

This is Butterfield's first career WAC Player of the Week accolade. It is USU's third WAC Player of the Week honor this season, joining senior forward Kyisean Reed on Dec. 23 and junior guard Preston Medlin on Jan. 7.

Utah State is 17-5 overall and 8-4 in WAC play, currently in fourth-place in the standings. Fresh off their three-game road win streak, the Aggies then return home to host Denver on Thursday, Feb. 14 and New Mexico State on Saturday, Feb. 16. Denver and NMSU are both tied for second in the WAC standings with 11-2 league ledgers. NMSU is 17-8 overall while DU is 15-8 overall.

Thursday's game is slated for a 7 p.m. (MT) tip-off, while Saturday's game is a 9 p.m. tip. Thursday's game will be televised regionally on KMYU TV while Saturday's game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

For USU men's basketball ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Fans can follow the Aggie men's basketball program at twitter.com/AggieHoops. USU fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on facebook at Utah State University Athletics.